Environment & Climate Change

25 Items

On the hood of an electric car, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs an executive order

The Sacramento Bee via AP, Pool, File/Daniel Kim

Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

Americans Agree with Their State and Local Officials on Climate Action

| July 26, 2022

Joshua Schwartz and Sabrina Arias write that although Congress seems unable to act, enough states, cities and counties are mobilizing to make a dent in U.S. carbon emissions. The states, cities, counties, and towns that have committed themselves to upholding the Paris agreement currently release a majority of U.S. carbon emissions. If they do manage to meet their targets, they can make a meaningful difference.

A woman holds a smartphone searching for direction at the Central Business District in Beijing,

AP/Andy Wong

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

The Realist Guide to Solving Climate Change

| Aug. 13, 2021

Stephen Walt writes that realism sees international politics primarily in terms of the great powers: It is their actions that shape most of what happens on the planet. It is the major powers that have done and are doing most of the damage to the atmosphere, and solving the problem depends more on their actions than on whatever Bolivia or Burundi or Brunei decide to do. This situation suggests that all-inclusive climate summits involving the entire U.N. membership list are less important than minilateral forums like the G-7 or G-20. 

United Nations Building

AP/Mary Altaffer

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

International Institutions Still Matter to the US

| Nov. 09, 2020

Joseph Nye writes that with less preponderance and facing a more complex world, the United States must exercise power with as well as over others and use its soft power to attract their cooperation. To do that, the United States will have to rediscover the importance of the institutions Donald Trump's administration abandoned.

Joe Biden

AP/Matt Slocum

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

After the Liberal International Order

| July 06, 2020

If Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in November, the question he will face is not whether to restore the liberal international order. It is whether the United States can work with an inner core of allies to promote democracy and human rights while cooperating with a broader set of states to manage the rules-based international institutions needed to face transnational threats.

Journal Article - Science and Engineering Ethics

On Effectiveness and Legitimacy of 'Shaming' as a Strategy for Combatting Climate Change

| Forthcoming

While states have agreed to substantial reduction of emissions in the Paris Agreement, the success of the Agreement strongly depends on the cooperation of large Multinational Corporations. Short of legal obligations, the authors discuss the effectiveness and moral legitimacy of voluntary approaches based on naming and shaming. They argue that effectiveness and legitimacy are closely tied together; as voluntary approaches are the only alternative to legally imposed duties, they are most morally defensible particularly if they would be the most effective in reducing the harmful greenhouse gases

Analysis & Opinions - The Huffington Post

A Lack of Bombast

| December 15, 2015

"Barack Obama's tenure, particularly his second term, is studded with peacemaking deals, from the Iranian nuclear agreement, to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to the re-opening of relations with Cuba, and to now the accord on climate change. His first term brought us the Affordable Care Act. When are we going to back off our disappointment at his clear lack of bombast?"

Analysis & Opinions - The Huffington Post

Dutch Court Breaks Political Stalemate Over Climate Action

| July 7, 2015

"In an unprecedented action, a court has ruled that the Dutch Government must reduce its greenhouse emissions by 25%. The landmark case was initiated by some 900 Dutch citizens and the verdict offers a legal breakthrough in a longstanding political stalemate, underlining the potential power of a well-informed grassroots lobby group in the environmental policy area"

This photo, supplied by NASA, shows a portion of Canada's Northwest Passage largely free of ice as seen by NASA's Terra satellite on Sept. 15, 2007.

AP Photo/NASA

Analysis & Opinions - The Boston Globe

A New Ocean Passage, with Not Enough Rules

| March 26, 2012

"More water, more boats, more cargo, and no one in charge means a lot more danger....The lack of governance has been an issue for some time. The United Nations Law of the Sea Convention was an attempt to establish a framework for ocean management; proposed in 1982, it has the support of over 160 nations, and the last five US presidents. But the Senate has never ratified the treaty based on reactionary concerns about ceding land to Northern Europeans."